3.1 Reviewing Element Metadata

To view the Metadata palette, click the menu item CI Tools > Metadata > Show Metadata Palette…

 

The palette is headed up in a similar way to ARCHICAD’s Info palette, showing the number of selected and editable elements. The adjacent Live Edit checkbox markedly changes how the palette is used:

• When Live Edit is on, it works in much the same was as ARCHICAD’s Info palette:

  • The contents update dynamically based on the current selection;

  • If no elements are selected and a tool is active, the active tool settings are displayed;

  • Editing immediately updates either the selected elements or the active tool settings;

  • If no tool or element is selected, it simply displays No selection and does nothing.

  Additional features not found in the Info palette:

  • Property values are shown, even when calculated by expression;

  • The traits of multiple elements can be viewed and edited simultaneously, clearly identifying the differences in property values across the whole selection;

  • A subset of the selected elements can be edited when they share the same property value(s);

  • The element selection can be filtered to a subset matching specified traits;

  • The element selection can be extended to add elements matching specified traits.

• When Live Edit is off, the palette has a passive role in managing or transferring settings. The displayed traits (including property values) are static irrespective of the current selection, only changing in response to explicit actions:

  • Traits can be extracted from selected elements;

  • Traits can be selectively injected into elements;

  • Traits can be automatically applied to any element added to the project (irrespective of type).

  The static list of traits support a workflow much like the standard ARCHICAD pipette and syringe tools, but allowing fine-grained transfer of specific traits and property values between elements. So if (for example) one element contains property values that should be applied to many others, you can extract those values from the element into the palette, select other elements and inject those values into them.

The remainder of the palette is divided into 2 sections, each of which can be collapsed:

1. ARCHICAD properties

2. ARCHICAD classifications

All three panels largely work in the same way, so detailed explanation of each is not required. Common palette features are summarised in this section with a reference to more detailed instructions in following sections. Element traits are managed with the following palette buttons:

		Live Edit On	Live Edit Off
	Add a trait	Enabled only when an element or tool is selected. Prompts for one or more traits to be selected and immediately adds them to either the selected elements or tool. See section 3.2.1 for more detail	Prompts for one or more traits to be selected and adds them to the relevant palette list. Selected elements or tools are not affected. See section 3.2.7 for more detail
	Remove a trait	Enabled only when a trait is selected in the relevant palette list. Immediately removes the selected traits from the selected elements or tool. See section 3.2.2 for more detail	Enabled only when a trait is selected in the relevant palette list. Immediately removes the selected traits from the relevant palette list. Selected elements or tools are not affected
	Extract traits	n/a to this context	Enabled only when an element or tool is selected. Extracts all the relevant traits from the selected tool or elements and displays them in the list. Selected elements or tools are not affected. See sections 3.2.3 and 3.2.7 for more detail
	Inject traits	n/a to this context	Enabled only when an element or tool is selected. Injects all the relevant traits from the list into the selected tool or elements. If items are selected in the list, only those items are injected. See sections 3.2.3 and 3.2.7 for more detail
	Select matching	Enabled when at least one trait is selected in the relevant palette list. Immediately selects elements in the current view with matching traits (adding to the current selection). See section 3.2.4 for more detail	n/a to this context
	Filter by traits	Enabled when at least one trait is selected in the relevant palette list. Immediately filters selected elements so only those with matching traits remain selected. See section 3.2.5 for more detail	n/a to this context

Note that the text style of listed traits may vary in certain circumstances. All items are typically displayed with a plain, black typeface, but the following alternatives may appear, sometimes in combination:

Blue	Unique Traits Only relevant when multiple elements are selected. A trait name is displayed in blue when it isn’t common to the entire selection, i.e. at least one element in the selection doesn’t have that trait. This also applies to individual property values, where the selected elements might share that property in common but with a different value. See section 3.3.3 for more detail.
Bold	Mixed Property Values Only relevant to properties. A property name will be displayed in bold when the property is present in multiple elements with differing values. The individual property values can be viewed by clicking the disclosure triangle. These will all be displayed in blue because they are not common to the entire selection.
Green	Auto-injected Traits Only relevant when the tool defaults are displayed (a tool is active and no elements are selected) and automatic injection of properties or classifications is active. The traits of the selected tool are displayed with one difference: if any traits have been added to the static list, these will override the tool settings and are displayed in green. If a classification is injected, any properties it adds will also be shown in green. See section 3.2.7 for more detail.

Examples of some text styles can be seen in the illustration above. These styles are a valuable resource for auditing and editing project data because they highlight differences and potential problems – see section 3.2.6 for more detail.